k up an' listened to their powwow. When I found out he aimed
to take her to Cinnabar's, I figured, like you did, that she'd be safe,
so I kind of loafed around to see if you wouldn't be along."

"You keep awful close cases on Purdy."

"Yeh--couple of pretty good reasons. I knew he was plottin' to bump me
off, an' I kind of had some curiosity to find out when they figured on
pullin' the job. But, mostly, it was on account of McWhorter's gal----"

"McWhorter's girl!" cried Tex, "what's McWhorter's girl got to do with
it?"

"Nothin'--except that Purdy's be'n buzzin' around tryin' to get her--an'
I don't mean marry her, neither--an' when he found out they wasn't
nothin' doin'--that he didn't stand snake-high with her, he figured on
gittin' her, anyway----"

"_God!_" The single spoken word ground between the Texan's tight-drawn
lips, and as Grimshaw looked he noted that the gloved fists were
clenched hard.

The outlaw nodded: "That's what I meant about leavin' out an' item--main
item, too--I hope. You see, I seen you two ridin' together
yesterday--when you sent her back home at the edge of the bad lands. An'
that's what made me so damn mad when I thought you'd gone an' got
outlawed, an' was mixin' it up with this here other woman. The man that
gits McWhorter's gal don't want his trail tangled up with other men's
wives. Marry her, Tex--an' take her out of this damn neck of the woods!
Take her across to the other side."

The Texan met the man's eyes squarely: "I'm goin' to," he answered,--"if
she'll have me."

"Have you, man! Make her have you!"

"I aim to," smiled the Texan, and Grimshaw noted that behind the smile
was a ring of determination. "So you've be'n kind of--of lookin' out fer
her, Cass?"

"Who the hell was they to do it, but me?" answered the man, roughly,
"McWhorter's busy up to the lambin'-camp, miles away--an' she's there
alone." The man paused, his face working strangely, "By God! If Purdy'd
laid a finger on her I'd of--of _tore him to pieces_!" The Texan
stared--surprised at the terrible savagery of the tone. The man
continued, his voice dropped low: "It was that that outlawed me, years
ago--killin' the damn reptile that ruined my little girl. I stood by the
law, them days. He was arrested an' had his trial--an' they give him a
year! _One year for that!_ She died before he was out--her, an' the baby
both. An' he died _the day he got out_--an' I was outlawed--an' I'm damn
proud of it!"

The Texan